The Lyttelton Times. SATURDAY, NOV. 17, 1877.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XLVIII, Issue 5225, 17 November 1877, Page 2

The Lyttelton Times. SATURDAY, NOV. 17, 1877.

The timfe has com© for calling -together a public meeting to consider the political situation. v 4n other parts of the have already) beep held, and have expressed the ; views of-, the constituencies;, with F ain,. uncertain sound. In Nelson’, 3bu[nedin, and Auckland the! - people i have bad th© quickness to penetrate the hollowness of the fine phrases which the . Opposition’. hive , used to cloak their designs against the Government. Christchurch has been' behind hand, but, it.,• is ..notorious that in Colonial agitations some place well in the rear is usually preferred by the people; of Christchurch. There was a tiroe when it was otherwise. But for, the last few years thOfre

is sot a except oocMioSof for tM •Indian Femme pplMftailgKin which Mconw If|th| front many* cities' of i|tfpm|Mt>ny have takes , the timeliliefr actionS but in the eodrgetiatad practical spirit displayed in furtherance of .lhe object aimed atr'*The~preie^^ ,rd^r:f political‘'crieis Ma pWduced a mollft 'chaotic "state "of parties)- which «*i§favourable to ‘ unscrupulous bids fop power,:and most, detrimental to the cause of good government, efcVhtimlß when good governuMot ia more than ever most imperatively required. Christchurch; looks- On' with stupid woQderment-« Spm© of our tpore sense; They r understanji their duty better#. Beei% partie|s6 well balanced and so fiercely engaged in fruitless war, they nave intimated tip -thqir; representatives their desires on the ’subject of their future conduc|. ; Nelson, has claimed' for, ,815 v , Georg© Grey’s„ Government affair trial, arid* Dunedin has done the f same,.With the explanation ,thatr a fair trial .is.infts eyes .the > granting* of fair time '“fnVctotigfctd • th© ''atai£§ r Of;the publfc '*• finances) 'public works, andf.Native; “ affairs andAucklapd has. spoken to the same effect. Dunedin further, and < pxpoouhbeft ">.the conduct of ,the,\ late,. Ministry arid their followers/ih endeavouring io •pteViiht this fair tHsl; 1 td’be ..highly obstructive and reprehensible. Both Dunedin and)Nelsqh- agree' in , viewing the* immediate dissolution of Parliament as the only remedy for the. pvils deUoUhcedingUch plain terms) • \ ..Vi The first subject of bdmplaiht is one on . which , ©very., constituency should have spoken; out, and.therefore'. Dunedin, .Nelson, and Auckland are perfectly right to have placed;their views .onrecord. . Happily their assistance in the matter was not required;’ < Before the; meetings in question were, held, Sir, George Grey had forced his opponents, sorely against their will and in spite of their cabals, machinations and intrigues/ to give his Ministry the time it required * for making, the necessary statements of policy. In order to" prevent him* from doing this wprk“: : ',Major,' Atkipson; . deliberately stated that itwaa not his intention to ;do the work at all'. , The best,commentary. that 'cqpld ,be made on the audacity; of tins completely gratuitous, assumption, is that * the; Native Statement has already been made, and that early dates have been fiied for thedelivery of the companion Statements On Finance and . Public only colourable pretext put forward by the Opposition to justify the extremely unusual course they adopted towards the Government has fallen to the ground. That conduct stands at'last in its true colours before the public. The Want of Confidence motion is now unmasked, as the result of a desire to get back to office I , a desire unsupported by a single reasonable excuse. It is high time that the> : Oity of Ohfiltchurch called its representatives,, to account t for the cohepibuoolr snare they have taken in actively , , such an Unjustifiable hbtftMcfcid A the business of the country**. j %\ If this were theonlyreason for call) 4fig'tdg©ther a publittmeeting.it wdulfi! be sufficient.. Members of Parliament are not delcgatea/it is true, but when they forget the laws of justice, and .the rules, of ordinary courtesy, .as,, ;piir ' three” have in their Support ‘of ATajpr -Atkinson’s want of confidence motion, they make themselves amenable to a vote of censure from their constituents. But* this is not the duly reason why theconstituencies throughout the province shouldspeaktbeirmind. The wantoa obstruction offered to the Government ,is likely,to continue.;; A second motionof want of confidence has been the* order ; paper, add is waiting for a hbance wbicb it will probably never getof being, made, but it has been the fruitful mother of wasted .hours, and may continue similarly prolific. The last we bear isthat the Opposition intend to ask the House to censure the ,Governtpent for keeping back the nd confidence motion. This probably is a sign that either the leader of the Opposition f has lost his senses, ’hr I ' ? ‘fhat aorib^ c; who' : -'''f<^w«ided>wthe to .tt contemporary .ought to be relegal^Nib* nehrest lunatic asylum. t this may be, chaos is [ the fiiling power in the House at present. The truth is that the. House is too evenly, balanced for either party lo be able c.to’.;,do,* any work. -* Thereasbnia thatfhanyjnembers have' got * so Hopeclepsly the. late struggles/ that they .havh .fo 7 .some; '’extent,J'bdcome, blind." Theyj/have gone" through a variety of mental processes which enabled them to take a most satisfactory view of T their own position," but- which it. would.be- complelelydmpop.ible/or, themipexplain to anyone else, fit is, time ' that'they were reminded j that ' they baye conatituents whose political vision has not .been.dimmed faction fights ior place. - It is-perfectly intolerable tbat these should be allowed to ‘ Cd&tmue for a. day longer; j Our correspondent' ' 4 * Ratepayer ” ■ calls for . a ?.■“ monster 'meeting”? td.. be convened without delay. W©'cordially endorse his request. When the meeting is; held-in Christchurch, it will be late, but it will have one advantage, If its'prdmo!terß~who, yre presume, are working hard fdi’ theft object—will dplay it till the third day of fiexfcjwhek. By so dbing) they, will give the electors ;tm,dphprtuiiity; of; making .themselves acquainted**'with* the'-Financial and ptatehienta pf the Min fore .discussing and voting upon the present state and the future; prospects 4 of matters pblitical. The Financial Statement is promised on Monday and the ' Puplic. Works Statement oh Tuesday. The meeting ought not to take place till these ard deliypred. In their absence, unscrupulous Opposi-. tion.advocates will haver a fine opportunity to produce false impressions., The real object of the meeting will be to judge between the necessity for a dissolution and the continuance of the

Grey Ministry. TTod«r the circuta•tanses it if clear that ought to be held until that Ministry ha* been anopnnced, Ik. -